6 ms·

Coupled with right to repair issues, farmers are really in a bad spot.

toomuchtodo 5y ago
Farmers need a coop that designs and builds farm equipment to avoid legacy manufacturer rent seeking. Edit: open source hardware design and fabrication should be a part of 4-H programs, lots of overlap with maker/hacker spaces imho
- daniel-cussen 5y ago
  Buy tractors from Belarus. They are nearly completely analog. What few plastic parts there are haven't been minimized. And if it's anything like it used to be in the Soviet Union, you get instructions on how to make the replacement parts yourself in the manual.
  - wwweston 5y ago
    Where can I learn more about the soviet culture around industrial equipment that you’re describing?
    - daniel-cussen 5y ago
      I talked to people who emigrated to Cuba for around a decade. And it's not comfortable equipment, like it's lacking all kinds of "features" that American equipment has, and that are actually nice, but that never got incorporated into the design. So I'm reading up about it but remote controls were never a big thing, it was not like in America where they were an obvious part of the television, in the Bloc you had to manipulate the knobs mounted on the device, and that meant getting up every time. It was all about the basic bottom line functionality. So I hear that in Cuba the Soviet air conditioning is basic and brutal, for better and for worse. Apparently most Soviet electronics sacrifice efficiency (energy efficiency, and light weight, and economizing materials) for effectiveness. There is a reason for this: under Socialism, capital goods were always short, but they had to be available. Demanding an air conditioning was basically done as a political favor, and the economics weren't good. Therefore what the factory wanted, really really wanted, was for the customer to take his air conditioning or tractor and never come back. No planned obsolescence, repeat customers were the bane of their existence. So they made them last.
      - kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
        Remote controls were a niche novelty until the 80's. Everyone got up to change the channel unless you had an expensive set using chimes or a wired control box.
- pessimizer 5y ago
  I'm pretty sure 4-H relies on corporate sponsors.
- myself248 5y ago
  I got tapped by 4H to judge a computers/electronics design event a few years ago. My background is in hackerspaces and OSHW, and the overlap with what the kids were building was staggering. It's been a while and I'm curious what they're up to lately.
- tomc1985 5y ago
  Would it be possible to source designs from expired patents?
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    Can’t see why not. I’d also imagine patenting new technology and allowing open access would also be possible.
ren_engineer 5y ago
problem is that many of the corporate farms are owned by hedge funds who are also invested in BigAg companies, so they don't really care about right to repair. Hedge funds are also jacking up land prices because they have access to near zero interest loans for land
- shmageggy 5y ago
  Got any links where we can read about this? Shit like this is the root of all evil
  - noefingway 5y ago
    https://thecounter.org/who-really-owns-american-farmland https://thecounter.org/who-really-owns-american-farmland https://www.motherjones.com/food/2021/05/bill-melinda-gates-farmland-wealth-cascade-young-farmers-priced-out/ https://www.motherjones.com/food/2021/05/bill-melinda-gates-... where I farm our (60 miles from DC and Baltimore) not very productive red clay is going for top dollar and not to farmers. Not necessarily hedge funds, but high income earners buying up property for investment.
    - etempleton 5y ago
      I am familiar with this area and soil type and I am always shocked farming is viable at all. Most grass doesn’t even seem to grow well unless you put a heavy layer of topsoil down.
- loonster 5y ago
  Sounds very similar to McDonald's Ice Cream machines.

Farmers need a coop that designs and builds farm equipment to avoid legacy manufacturer rent seeking. Edit: open source hardware design and fabrication should be a part of 4-H programs, lots of overlap with maker/hacker spaces imho

daniel-cussen 5y ago
Buy tractors from Belarus. They are nearly completely analog. What few plastic parts there are haven't been minimized. And if it's anything like it used to be in the Soviet Union, you get instructions on how to make the replacement parts yourself in the manual.
- wwweston 5y ago
  Where can I learn more about the soviet culture around industrial equipment that you’re describing?
  - daniel-cussen 5y ago
    I talked to people who emigrated to Cuba for around a decade. And it's not comfortable equipment, like it's lacking all kinds of "features" that American equipment has, and that are actually nice, but that never got incorporated into the design. So I'm reading up about it but remote controls were never a big thing, it was not like in America where they were an obvious part of the television, in the Bloc you had to manipulate the knobs mounted on the device, and that meant getting up every time. It was all about the basic bottom line functionality. So I hear that in Cuba the Soviet air conditioning is basic and brutal, for better and for worse. Apparently most Soviet electronics sacrifice efficiency (energy efficiency, and light weight, and economizing materials) for effectiveness. There is a reason for this: under Socialism, capital goods were always short, but they had to be available. Demanding an air conditioning was basically done as a political favor, and the economics weren't good. Therefore what the factory wanted, really really wanted, was for the customer to take his air conditioning or tractor and never come back. No planned obsolescence, repeat customers were the bane of their existence. So they made them last.
    - kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
      Remote controls were a niche novelty until the 80's. Everyone got up to change the channel unless you had an expensive set using chimes or a wired control box.
pessimizer 5y ago
I'm pretty sure 4-H relies on corporate sponsors.
myself248 5y ago
I got tapped by 4H to judge a computers/electronics design event a few years ago. My background is in hackerspaces and OSHW, and the overlap with what the kids were building was staggering. It's been a while and I'm curious what they're up to lately.
tomc1985 5y ago
Would it be possible to source designs from expired patents?
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  Can’t see why not. I’d also imagine patenting new technology and allowing open access would also be possible.

ren_engineer 5y ago

problem is that many of the corporate farms are owned by hedge funds who are also invested in BigAg companies, so they don't really care about right to repair. Hedge funds are also jacking up land prices because they have access to near zero interest loans for land

shmageggy 5y ago
Got any links where we can read about this? Shit like this is the root of all evil
- noefingway 5y ago
  https://thecounter.org/who-really-owns-american-farmland https://thecounter.org/who-really-owns-american-farmland https://www.motherjones.com/food/2021/05/bill-melinda-gates-farmland-wealth-cascade-young-farmers-priced-out/ https://www.motherjones.com/food/2021/05/bill-melinda-gates-... where I farm our (60 miles from DC and Baltimore) not very productive red clay is going for top dollar and not to farmers. Not necessarily hedge funds, but high income earners buying up property for investment.
  - etempleton 5y ago
    I am familiar with this area and soil type and I am always shocked farming is viable at all. Most grass doesn’t even seem to grow well unless you put a heavy layer of topsoil down.
loonster 5y ago
Sounds very similar to McDonald's Ice Cream machines.